Now that the nation’s 250th celebrations are almost behind us, it’s time to turn attention to the annual SHARKFEST series unspooling on video screens over the summer, featuring sharks, sharks, and more sharks. Here at CleanTechnica, SHARKFEST has also become springboard for exploring other ocean-related news, including plastic waste recycling, wave energy, and the emerging shark habitat formed by offshore wind farms among other topics. This year a shark-inspired fuel saving application for aircraft is in our sights, so read on… SHARKFEST 2026 Is Here SHARKFEST aims to entertain firstly, so hold on to your hats for a heady brew of jaw-dropping footage alongside the expert scientific background and conservation messages expected of a Nat Geo production. The series launches on National Geographic TV on Sunday, July 5 at 9:00 pm (8:00 Central) while also streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. First up is “Hammerhead Sharks Close up With Bertie Gregory,” filmed the waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. “Joining forces with leading shark scientists and local experts, Bertie investigates what’s driving the hammerhead decline, and how protected waters offer hope for the future. His journey culminates in a rare and unforgettable encounter that shines a light on the future of one of the world’s most famous sharks,” Nat Geo explains. There’s plenty more where that comes from. “Additional fin-tastic programming will roll out throughout the month across Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney Channel and Disney XD, with select titles also streaming on Disney+ and Hulu,” Nat Geo notes. “SHARKFEST content will also be available on VOD while select programming drops all month long across YouTube channels, including Nat Geo, Nat Geo Animals, Nat Geo en Español, and Nat Geo Kids,” they add. After swimming with the hammerheads, the series takes off to pursue the world’s largest mako shark, unravel a 3,000-year-old mystery, and catch the action when sharks and crocodiles duke it out. The series also explores the secret shark nurseries of a remote island in the South Pacific, and the battle for survival in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Greenly Island. Here Comes The Shark-Inspired Fuel Saving Aircraft Of The Future The shark-inspired aircraft coating surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar back in 2022, when Lufthansa and BASF teamed up to introduce AeroSHARK. “AeroSHARK is a functional surface film that replicates the flow-optimized structure of sharkskin,” explains the Technik branch of Lufthansa. “It features small longitudinal protrusions measuring about 50 micrometers, so-called riblets, which are precisely oriented along the airflow.” “AeroShark is an adhesive film that immediately reduces fuel consumption — and, as a consequence, carbon emissions — from just about any vehicle that has large, smooth surfaces,” adds CleanTechnica’s Jo Borras. “The idea is that millions of years of evolution led to sharks moving away from a perfectly smooth skin towards the denticle design that reduces hydrodynamic drag enough to give the sharks that have them an evolutionary advantage,” Borras elaborates. “It’s a successful adaptation that’s been around since the time of the dinosaurs, and if it works in under water, the AeroShark team figured it would work in the air, too,” he adds again for good measure. As for whether or not the idea will fly, so to speak, the answer is yes. Although the raw savings is minuscule at about 1%, the cumulative effect adds up. The South American airline LATAM was first on board with an unannounced test of an AeroShark shipset on a single plane in 2023. After validating film’s performance at 1% fuel savings, the airliner ordered four more shipsets in 2024, followed by another five earlier this year for a total of 10. The newest additions are expected to complete their retrofits in 2027. In their current iteration, the shipsets are designed to cover almost all of the fuselages and engine nacelles of LATAM’s Boeing 777 fleet. Once they are all installed, the savings will total up to 4,000 metric tons of jet fuel per year, about the equivalent of 56 scheduled flights from São Paulo, Brazil to Miami, Florida. More Fuel Savings From AeroSHARK… That’s just for starters. In May, Lufthansa announced a new certification collaboration with Airbus, aimed at attaching AeroSHARK shipsets to the wings and stabilizers of the Airbus A330ceo. The two firms already have shipsets for the fuselage and nacelles under way. “From a technical perspective, the certification program will comprehensively assess the impact of riblet application on flight dynamics, lightning strike protection, structural loads, maintenance aspects and all relevant aircraft systems, including flight control, autopilot and navigation systems,” Lufthansa notes. If all goes according to plan, the addition of the wing and stablilizer applications will result in more than 2% fuel savings on a long-haul flight. Lufthansa also took the opportunity to recap its AeroSHARK activity to date, listing 30 Boeing 777 aircraft among various carries along with one Lufthansa Boeing 747. “As of April 2026, AeroSHARK-modified aircraft have accumulated over 350,000 flight hours, saving more than 20,600 metric tons of jet fuel and reducing CO₂ emissions by over 65,000 metric tons,” the company notes. …And More Fuel Savings. AeroSHARK is not the only fuel-saving film to surface in the aviation industry. On June 30, the Australian startup MAKO announced a round of Series A funding in support of its own shark inspired fuel-saving adhesive, FlightFilm. “The capital will be deployed across MAKO’s vertically integrated capability to manufacture and deliver on commercial airline and defense Flightfilm pre-orders and beyond,” the company stated. The fund-raising was spearheaded by Virescent Ventures on its own behalf as well as for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). Participants included the IAGi Ventures branch of International Airlines Group, which is the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia among others. As noted by MAKO, the group plans to test SharkFilm on one of its airliners this year. Additional investors included Zero Infinity Partners, Grok Ventures, Skip Capital, IP Group, and TreeArc. “The investor group represents a coalition of climate finance, deep technology investment, and aviation industry capital backing a single aviation efficiency technology,” MAKO emphasized. The company has also partnered with the Sustainable Skies Lab of Delta Air Lines and it is under contract with the US Air Force, which plans to trial FlightFilm on a C-17 with the aim of extending the performance of its existing cargo fleet. Aside from fuel savings on the fossil energy side, drag-reducing films like AeroSHARK and FlightFilm could also be deployed for savings on the SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) side. The potential for increasing electric aircraft battery range could also be in play. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the discussion thread. Photo: The 14th annual National Geographic SHARKVEST is coming to video screens beginning on July 5, featuring up-close experiences with the iconic hammerhead shark among many others (courtesy of Nat Geo via email/dropbox).
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